Making gaming pc... best processor out there or wait for new processor

[shaselai]

I read that the new chips from Intel will be all quads and with very few (if any?) games using all the cores is it worth it to wait for the new processors and build my computer out of that? Seems dual core is the standard for gaming.. any suggestions on if it is better off getting a dual core or just wait for the new i7 for gaming?thanks

 

[zero3one]

Depends on if you want to wait or not. I was thinking of waiting or the i7 when I built my computer (Q9650) but I need a machine then so the choice was simple.

I went with a quad because I wanted something a little more all-rounded. I do a little gaming, photo editing, surfing and general day to day stuff. With the amount of money I had to spend the Q9650 was a logical choice for me even though many would argue it was over-kill.

As for few games using all the cores, I think in the next year or so we will see more and more games utilizing all the cores. In fact, I think Far Cry 2 uses multicores...

 

[shaselai]

so if i am not in a hurry (which i am not.), it is better to wait? I guess best to get the 3.ghz i7? its price seems a bit high - will it be that much powerful than current processors?

 

[yobigd20]

Personally I would wait. If you buy now, in a month your computer will be 'outdated'. Lol.

Ok seriously though, technology is always going to be that way with products being replaced with new products. However, it is my opinion that because of the drastic architecture changes, it would be well worth it to get the next gen capabilities. With that said, the new Nehalem processers are said to increase performance by 30% due to the doing away with fsb and replaced with quickpath, new SEE instructions, improved algorithms (branch predictors), and last but also very very important - the reintroduction of hyper-threading. This means that your quad cores would be able to execute 8 threads simultaneously, and on certain versions with two dies in each package actually be able to execute 16 threads simultaneously. There are other improvements that I didn't mention here. My whole point is that its such a huge change and improvement, I would feel like I'm totally wasting money if I bought current technology instead of waiting for a month. 'Current' games might not take advantage of this, but future games will. Why 'outdate' yourself already?

The other reason that I say this is because you won't be able to upgrade your system to the new core i7's in the future either. I might have a different opinion if all your other hardware could stay the same and you could just swap in a core i7 processor later when they become cheaper, but since its such as huge change, not only with your cpu become outdated in a month, but your motherboard and ram will (sort of) too. I say 'sort of' for ram because theres going to be a whole new sleuth of ram coming out since you can't overclock ram past 1.7v with a Nehalem without damaging the cpu. Therefore manufacturers are forced to improve their modules now to match or increase performance over their current line of performance products which usually require 1.8-2.1v.

If you are building a new system, I would recommend waiting until the core i7's are in the market. The only thing I wouldn't go 'overboard' on when you build your new system is video cards. Get yourself a VERY GOOD card cheap, like the Ati 4850 for $150-$200. I say this because when the ATI DX11 cards come out in July `09, thats when you should drop your $$ on the latest there too. Besides, a Nehalem with a 4850 should be able to run every game today very smoothly, including crysis, at max settings without any choppiness on a 1920x1200 resolution.

Hope my opinion helps!

 

[einstein4pres]

Just remember that Intel tends to start releases off with high-end products. If you're not willing to buy at or near the top, it'll be several months before you see lower end components.

 

[shaselai]

great review! Nowadays does the GHz matter much nowadays? Looking at Wiki's price estimation there are 2.66,2.9, 3.2 ghz variations and the difference between 3.2 and 2.9 is ~400$. Is it worth it and how long does it "extend" the "life" of the pc? For graphics card I am thinking of going xfire - seems like the new way graphics cards..

 

[aevm]

This article will show you how various CPUs do in games.
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=770&p=5

Try to get a decent CPU, but not necessarily one of the top 5 shown in those charts. For example if a Q9650 costs $540 and a Q9550 costs $320 and the difference is 272 fps vs 270 fps or whatever, then spending the extra for the Q9650 isn't worth it. The important thing for games is to get a good video card.

 

[Zyntak09]

For budget gaming do not wait unless you care about eventual price cuts. Nehalem will be too expensive to fit into a $1000 gaming rig when you factor in an X58 mobo and DDR3 anyway (unless you plan on waiting until this summerish). I am going to buy an E8500 in 2 weeks because that is when I want to build my pc. A fast dual core is great for gaming right now (and will be fine for the next few years) and they are relatively cheap allowing more budget for graphics. Like aevm said, its all about the video card in games today anyway.

That said, if you want to build a cpu central workstation that costs $1500+ you should wait. Its not like the Nehalems are going to perform worse than the C2Qs.

 

[shaselai]

ic. I am in no hurry right now.. realistically i probably will get the pieces together ~ spring time. I prob will get the the i7 then

 

[Stupido]

If you wait because there's a new piece of hardware coming out then you'll always keep waiting =)

correct, but there is a small catch here... maybe not worth waiting between processor variants release but here we are talking about major architecture change... so in this case, I think it is worth waiting... at least for the first benchmarks..